Profile
Thesis title
Third parties in international adjudication. Indispensable third-party principle: time and change
Supervisors
Summary of research
Lucia's project focuses on the tension between procedural formalism and substantive justice, examining the so-called indispensable third-party principle. The principle is significant because of the impact it has on the scope and exercise of the international legal function and the veto power it may attribute to indispensable third parties. The study, focusing on third parties whose interests constitutes the very subject matter of a dispute between two genuine parties, aims to both explaining and criticising the indispensable third-party principle. The thesis challenges the consensual approach to international adjudication and questions whether an indispensable third-party can be compelled to participate in proceedings involving its interests. The study aims to contribute to the wider discourse on substantive justice and, in particular, to the debate as to whether international Courts and Tribunals are well-equipped to deal with complex disputes, involving a multiplicity of interests.
Biography
Lucia is a part-time PhD candidate at Queen Mary University of London and the coach of the University’s Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court team.
Alongside her academic role, Lucia practises as a dispute resolution lawyer. Lucia has a solid background in international arbitration and public international law. Her pluriannual experience includes working in top-tier law firms in London and Milan and in International Courts and Tribunals in Paris, Washington DC and Hamburg, focusing on international dispute resolution matters, investment and commercial arbitration and public international law. Lucia has been involved in complex disputes before the ICJ and PCA, as well as in arbitration proceedings under the UNCITRAL, ICSID, OIC, ICC and LCIA Arbitration Rules.
Lucia graduated top of her class (summa cum laude) from the University of Bologna and holds a Master 2 in Transnational Arbitration & Dispute Settlement from Sciences Po in Paris (summa cum laude).
public speaking
- Training programme for government lawyers, public sector practitionerson international arbitration, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation Arbitration Centre (OIC-AC), 30 March-1 April 2026.
- International Arbitration Rules and Related Practices, visiting teaching fellow at Heilongjiang University (China), 2025-2026.
- Career in International Arbitration, AIA40 Mentorship Series, University of Bologna (Italy), 13 May 2024.
- Opening speech AIA-CAM Pre-Moot, Milan (Italy), 1 February 2024.
- Institutional Arbitration, a Comparative Perspective, Certificate in International Commercial and Investment Arbitration, Rome (Italy), 18 September 2023.
- Arbitral Proceedings under the ICC Rules, International Arbitration Bootcamp, University of Florence (Italy), 28 June 2023.
- Trends and Current Challenges in International Construction Projects, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP, Rome (Italy), 30 May 2023.
- Arbitration Involving State Parties, Queen Mary University Paris campus, 20 May 2023.
- Current Trends in International Arbitration, focus on Italy and France, Orrik during the Paris Arbitration Week, 29 March 2023.